Devices, such as receivers and tuners, commonly employ signal architectures that generate a baseband signal stream having a spectrum that is centered at or near direct current (DC). In turn, these devices typically perform further processing on the baseband signal.
Unfortunately, such baseband signals may exhibit DC offsets. These offsets may be caused by factors, such as the inherent nature of electronic circuits (e.g., component matching), as well as the employed processing architecture. For example, commutating signals employed with mixer circuitry can self-mix and generate DC components. Such effects will vary with operational parameters, such as gain, frequency, process, temperature, and so forth.
Due to the random nature of received signals, there is often a DC component associated with demodulated signals that is time varying in dependence on the employed modulation technique. On average, the measured DC signal component will tend to be zero as the measurement period increases. However, the measurement periods corresponding to such zero averages are typically long.
DC offsets are detrimental to the proper functioning of devices, such as receivers and tuners. For example, such offsets can contribute to unacceptable bit error rates.